A380 OQA mostly repaired - Back in air by end of April?

[mannej]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

While it doesn't say whos A380s this problem has been found it, it could be a fault unique to early build aircraft like nancy-bird which have an older version of the wing.

Yes it does. What it doesn't say is which frames were involved.

Singapore Airlines confirmed yesterday a ''small number of cracks'' had been found on the wing rib feet of one of its A380s during an investigation in the second half of last year.

Read more: Airbus A380 | Cracks found in wings during Qantas A380 repairs

 

[markis10]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

Pressure is building for an inspection of all of them:

But the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association said today that it wanted airlines and the European plane maker to conduct inspections for cracks in the wing-rib attachments as soon as possible.
"There is no way on God's earth that I would be waiting four years to inspect them," Paul Cousins, the federal president of the engineers' union, said today.
"At the moment it seems that a Band-Aid fix has been applied too quickly to a situation that could become very serious

Read more: A380 cracks: check fleets now, say engineers

 

[simcat]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

Show me an aircraft (not just a type, I mean a tail number) that hasn't had cracks somewhere on it during it's lifetime and I'll wake you up because you're almost certainly dreaming! And if they say that are not safety related then I believe them because if they are instituting an inspection / fix-up as part of a regular maintenance activity, they are damn sure they won't fail, and lead to an aircraft critical failure, between now and then.

No concerns from me, I'll fly on the A380 anytime, not to say there isn't an as yet undiscovered critical failure waiting to occur as the fleet hours are still very low for that type, but in the absence of other pertinent information I trust in what Airbus are saying on this matter.

 

[The Rok]

No doubt the cracks were caused by Alan Joyce!

 

[markis10]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

Show me an aircraft (not just a type, I mean a tail number) that hasn't had cracks somewhere on it during it's lifetime and I'll wake you up because you're almost certainly dreaming! And if they say that are not safety related then I believe them because if they are instituting an inspection / fix-up as part of a regular maintenance activity, they are damn sure they won't fail, and lead to an aircraft critical failure, between now and then.
.

Its the cracks that appear early in its life thats the issue, a la the Comet, as of late 2003 a technical paper was published on metal fatigue and at that time there had been 306 fatal accidents attributed to it! Around 18 fatal accidents a year can be attributed to metal fatigue, I am sure the engineers were damn sure those would not fail either!

 

[casanovawa]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

Its certainly not going to be much of a public relations triumph if one of the damn wings do fall off one of these birds... And because the issue was raised if it does occur the negligence payouts should be higher, much higher, than what it would have cost the airlines or manufacturers just to do the checks and implement the required fixes in the first place... The fact that cracks have appeared on other planes as well doesn't really hold a lot of water with me, every design is different with new materials, different stresses from the size of wings and engines and all, just because one type of plane might have been able to fly 10 years with such a problems doesn't mean the A380 can... And obviously they would need to assess that its safe during all sorts of turbulence and worst case scenarios, not just flying in clear, fine days... I will probably still fly it at least once just to try it out, but I would hope they really know what they are doing....

 

[mannej]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

No doubt the cracks were caused by Alan Joyce!

With an appearance from overseas maintenance

 

[casanovawa]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

Well the thing was built overseas in the first place, so just for that you have to be suspicious about it!!!

 

[Happy Trails]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

No doubt the cracks were caused by Alan Joyce!

Those would be Craics.

 

[simcat]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

Its the cracks that appear early in its life thats the issue, a la the Comet, as of late 2003 a technical paper was published on metal fatigue and at that time there had been 306 fatal accidents attributed to it! Around 18 fatal accidents a year can be attributed to metal fatigue, I am sure the engineers were damn sure those would not fail either!

Engineers are not perfect, no arguments from me on that one, but if a crack is known and it's growth rate is understood (which is not rocket science unless it's in composite material!) then a reasonable assessment can be made on whether it will reach a critical failure point prior to the next routine servicing OR it will need a special servicing to rectify. The other obvious consideration is: is the crack on primary, secondary or tertiary structure AND if it does lead to failure before the proposed rectification schedule could be achieved what effect will that have on the structural integrity of the larger part, or attached parts, or on the aircraft as a whole. If the answer is it probably wont reach critical failure but even if it does then the consequence is bugger all then the decision to wait for the next routine service is obvious.

The important thing is once you've found one crack how many other similar parts subjected to similar loadings are also developing cracks - what sort of inspection program is required? But once again it sounds like Airbus has done what would be expected, advised the airlines, Qantas has conducted it's inspections and discovered one example.

On 18 fatals per year, it is hard to say whether these were known or unknown cracks and whether manufacturers had issued inspection / rectification orders that airlines simply ignored (or implemented incorrectly) but I would be interested in knowing how many could be attributed to aircraft manufacturer design engineers underestimating growth rates and consequences of failure.

 

[Mal]

So one Emirates, two Singapore, one Qantas and an Airbus development plane. Sounds like planes from early production runs.

I'm not worried, but still find it interesting.

 

[markis10]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

The important thing is once you've found one crack how many other similar parts subjected to similar loadings are also developing cracks - what sort of inspection program is required? But once again it sounds like Airbus has done what would be expected, advised the airlines, Qantas has conducted it's inspections and discovered one example.

Problem is they were not found by Airbus, they were found while repairing the QF bird:

Engineers only discovered the cracks in the wing ribs of the Qantas A380 - named the Nancy Bird-Walton - while they were conducting $130 million in repair work on the aircraft at Changi Airport.

While it is after all a press report, at face value it would appear Airbus had been reactive rather than proactive, and will they continue to be reactive in future cases?

 

[LiamR]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

Sounds more like "Something to be aware of" rather than a safety issue just yet.

I have faith that Qantas, or any other major airline wouldn't put me on an aircraft knowing it had a fault that could cause a situation inflight.

 

[simcat]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

Problem is they were not found by Airbus, they were found while repairing the QF bird:



While it is after all a press report, at face value it would appear Airbus had been reactive rather than proactive, and will they continue to be reactive in future cases?

I missed that bit but that is the normal way cracks are found, by the users rather than the original equipment manufacturer (and hopefully as the result of maintenance NOT due to an accident investigation):shock:. The manufacturer then typically provides authoritative advice on rectifications and further inspections and advises all other type users similarly.

 

[drron]

Re: A380 Cracks in wings

Lets see how long it takes for the Media to make a mountain out of a mole hill on this one as they always do.

Amazing how they never seem to report good things about this aircraft.

having flown most jets now and completed 30 flights on the A380 I would fly it every time

Was listening to the local Devonport radio station and on there news they had Mr.Purvinas calling for all A380s to be grounded immediately.:shock:
:shock:

 

[Nigelinoz]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

I'm certainly not an engineer so am probably not qualified to comment but to my mind four years does seem a long time to wait before
inspecting them,considering that the head of Airbus engineering has said that

"On some aircraft we found almost none and on others we found several across the wing on both sides."
​

it would seem to be good sense that they inspect them as soon as possible but as I said I'm no engineer.
I tend to agree with Mal's comment,I'm not worried but will be watching this story with interest.
Cheers
N'oz
A380 wing cracks 'really is not a safety issue': head engineer

 

[Berlin]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

I have faith that Qantas, or any other major airline wouldn't put me on an aircraft knowing it had a fault that could cause a situation inflight.

So Air France is not a major airline I assume? It's only not a "major safety issue" unless 500+ people die under "strange circumstances". I'm hoping that the media outrage will get them to do what they should do in the first place- get those damn things repaired. Seriously, can't be that hard, can it!

 

[samh004]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

While it doesn't say whos A380s this problem has been found it, it could be a fault unique to early build aircraft like nancy-bird which have an older version of the wing.

That’s what I was thinking too.

 

[Happy Trails]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

So Air France is not a major airline I assume? It's only not a "major safety issue" unless 500+ people die under "strange circumstances". I'm hoping that the media outrage will get them to do what they should do in the first place- get those damn things repaired. Seriously, can't be that hard, can it!

I'm hoping that they base any decisions on sound engineering practice, not media hype or internet hysteria.

 

[Berlin]

Re: New A380 issues - cracks found in Nancy Bird walton's wing ribs

I'm hoping that they base any decisions on sound engineering practice, not media hype or internet hysteria.

Well, they could just be better safe than sorry and suck up the costs involved. At least that's definitely the safest, won't HARM to fix those cracks, will it?